Supplemental Undergraduate Courses

This course will present concepts and skills necessary to create compelling characters in games. Topics covered may include the 3 dimensions of character, growth and development of the player-character and non-player characters, dialogue, character relationships and evoking emotion.

Recommended background: Previous investigation in the field of interactive storytelling and its basic building blocks (IMGD 1001, IMGD 1002, or equivalent).

This course will present concepts and skills necessary to write and implement narrative in games. Topics covered may include theme and style, different types of games and platforms, systemic storytelling, linear vs. non-linear narratives, editing and collaboration with other members of a development team.

This course examines interactive media and games’ intersections with contemporary social movements. How are games well suited to shift worldviews and influence popular opinions? How are theories of social change in alignment with creative media making? Students will examine interdisciplinary art forms ranging from games to speculative fiction to art installations in order to understand art’s role in contemporary social movements. Students will also read and examine critical race theory, feminist theory, queer theory, and postcolonial literature in order to understand how and why social movements take place.

Supplemental Graduate Courses

The Game Design Workshop provides students with a series of projects and challenges to introduce game design concepts, techniques, and resources. The course will consist mainly of small in-class exercises that introduce different game design concepts as well as a larger group project in which students are provided a game design challenge with particular demands and affordances for which they will need to design a series of prototypes, test and iterate on those prototypes, and create a plan for full development. In-class time will be spent on small exercises and group workshopping and critique. No programming experience is required to take this course.